>> pelley: tonight, dow 14k. wall street reaches a milestone on its way back from the great recession. anthony mason has the jobs numbers that touched off the rally. the president proposes a compromise on birth control coverage, trying to avoid a new supreme court battle. major garrett has details. the big easy and the big game. we'll get a super bowl preview from james brown and talk to the mayor about how to turn around failing public schools. what was the new orleans school system the day after katrina? >> it was gone. >> pelley: and steve hartman "on the road" with one man's odyssey to new orleans to honor

its biggest fan. >> he was my hero. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. reporting tonight from jackson square in new orleans. >> pelley: good evening. we are here to cover the super bowl this sunday, but we start tonight with the economy. it took nearly five years but the dow is back above 14,000, a symbolic end to the worst economic crisis since the great depression. back in october of 2007 the dow hit an all time high of 14,164 and then the bottom fell out. by march of' 099, that key measure of america's economic health had fallen to 6,547. today the dow gained 149 points to close at 14,009. the market was giving a thumbs up to the latest jobs report.

while unemployment did tick up a tenth of a point to 7.9%, a separate survey of employers shows that they added 157,000 new jobs. but is the stock market's big gain a sign of economic health or is it a wall street fever? here's anthony mason. >> reporter: super bowl souvenirs are rolling off the line in a hurry at win craft, the sports collectibles company if winnow ma, minnesota. super bowl sunday is big business here. president john killen says the company just had a strong sales year. >> it actually grew our employment base to about 50 people up from about 500. the sales jobs, accounting jobs, engineering jobs. so it's a wide variety. it hasn't been just one area. >> reporter: killen says business this weekend sets the tone for the rest of the year and he likes what he sees. >> win craft's a lot more optimistic about 2013. >> reporter: nationally,

hiring showed steady growth in january. >> it's not an exciting report, it's a respectable report. >> reporter: economist ellen zentner of nomura securities says there was strength in construction, manufacturing, and retail hiring. the labor department also said the economy added 422,000 more jobs last year than first reported. that upped the average monthly job growth in 2012 from 153,000 to 181,000. but the economy is facing new head winds with the payroll tax rising again from 4.2% to 6.2%. how much impact do you think the payroll tax hike is going to have on growth? >> consumers are faced with a drop in real disposable income of more than 2% in the first quarter. that's going to impact spending. that's going to shave at least a percentage point off of g.d.p. growth. >> reporter: and slower growth, of course, means less

hiring. but many economists believe that will only be a temporary setback to the economy while people adjust, scott. >> pelley: anthony, one of the worst problems in unemployment has been long-term unemployment. have we made a dent in that? >> reporter: scott, there are still 4.7 million people out there who are out of work more than six months, but this is encouraging. the average length a person is unemployed has dropped to 35.3 weeks, and that is now the lowest in more than two years. >> pelley: making a comeback. anthony, thanks very much. the white house is looking to head off a new supreme court battle over health care and specifically the requirement that insurance cover birth control. the administration today proposed a compromise that would exempt more faith-based employers from that requirement and those that are not exempt would not have to pay for or arrange the coverage. major garrett is at the white house to sort this out for us tonight. major? >> reporter: scott, in a nod

to moral objections, the administration will allow religious affiliated institutions to opt out of providing contraception coverage, but it will allow female employees to obtain that coverage through other insurers. the cost would be paid for by the insurance companies or health care exchanges. we asked white house press secretary jay carney what the administration was trying to accomplish. what's the balance in the administration is trying to strike with the proposed rules on contra acception? >> we need to provide access to present aive services for all women and that includes contraception. and we also needed to respect religious believes. >> reporter: but religious institutions and some private employers aren't so sure. they say it's a gimmick and an unconstitutional one at that. the catholic association's ashley mcguire. what is the wrong you perceive is being done? >> this is an unprecedented attack on the part of the obama

administration on religious believers and employers all across the country whether they work in the government, whether they work for a private institution, whether they are a nun working for the catholic church serving the poor in the streets of new york city, this is an attack on their religious freedom. >> reporter: this is not the final word, really. another step in creating a final binding federal policy. dozens of lawsuits are pending to decide the constitutional balance between requiring contra september i coverage and protecting first amendment rights on religious grounds to ignore a federal mandate. >> pelley: major, thanks very much. in los angeles today there was more fallout from the child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the roman catholic church. the head of the largest diocese in america stripped his predecessor of all public duties and bill whitaker has more on that story. >> reporter: los angeles archbishop jose gomez took the unprecedented action against cardinal roger mahoney soon after the release of tens of

thousands of secret church files which included names of priests accused of molesting children. in a letter last night, gomez apologized to victims. these files are the strongest evidence yet that former archbishop now retired cardinal roger mahoney and his chief aide monsignor thomas curry plottedded to conceal the abuse from police. in one correspondence in 1988, curry wrote: >> i think it's a good friday today. it's a really good friday. (laughs). >> reporter: 70-year-old udo strutynski says he was abuse bade priest while in catholic high school. he says he felt abused again

when higher ups threatened to throw him out of school if he told. >> these documents prove that we were telling the truth-- literally. it's independent proof. >> reporter: today, victims held a quilt with photos of the abused. esther miller says she was abused by a church deacon at aged 16. >> today means bittersweet. it's victorious. we were dealing with a giant called god. >> reporter: scott, we were unable to reach monsignor curry. in a statement today cardinal mahoney said he has already apologized, if he could undue past mistakes he would but he can't. >> pelley: bill whitaker in our los angeles newsroom. bill, thank you very much. that hostage standoff in midland city, alabama, is going into its fourth day. today the police put out a photo of jimmy lee dykes, the man accused of shooting a school bus driver to death and then dragging a five-year-old boy

into an underground bunker. the police have been speaking with dykes through a ventilation pipe. no progress so far. cbs news correspondent anna werner has learned that the texas prosecutor who was murdered yesterday had been threatened recently and was carrying a gun wherever he went. mark hasse handled organized crime cases in dallas and kaufman counties. detectives are now poring over his files looking for leads. the u.s. embassy in ankara, turkey, came under attack today. a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint. a turkish security guard was also killed. the white house quickly called it a terrorist attack and holly williams is in the turkish capital tonight. >> reporter: the explosion rocked the quiet embassy district in turkey's capital. this shaky mobile phone footage shows the confusion in the immediate aftermath as bystanders rushed in to help the injured. the suicide bomber only got as

far as the embassy's outside perimeter, stopped by turkish guards, he detonated his explosive device, killing himself and one of the guards. the blast was powerful enough to rip this heavy security door off its hinges and send debris flying, injuring several other embassy staff members. this woman, a turkish journalist, was seriously hurt. the american ambassador, francis ricciardone, visited the hospital where the casualties were treated and praised the security guard who lost his life. >> i've paid my respects to the family of the turkish hero who stood guard for us everyday, was well trained, was committed to his job, and who died defending the turks and americans who work at our embassy. >> reporter: the turkish authorities have named this man as the suicide bomber.

seen here during a court appearance, he was a member of a radical left wing group that's on the state department's list of terrorist organizations. >> pelley: holly williams is joining us in ankara, turkey. holly, you mentioned that this group is on the state department's list of terrorist organizations. what do you know about them? >> reporter: well, they're known as the revolutionary people's liberation party front and they are marxists who believe that the u.s. is an imperialist state that's controlling turkey. they've been implicated in many assassinations and suicide bombings going back two or three decades and their targets have included both the u.s. and the turkish military. >> pelley: holly williams outside the u.s. embassy in ankara. holly, thanks very much. u.s. embassies, of course, are run by the state department and this attack came on hillary clinton's last day as secretary of state. (cheers and applause) staff members filled the f?partment's lobby to say

farewell. clinton has not talked about her future plans but as she left some shouted "2016" the next year we will elect a president. john kerry was sworn in as her successor in a private ceremony. ed koch, the poor kid from the bronx who grew up to be mayor of new york, died today. >> how am i doing? how am i doing? thank you. >> reporter: from 1978 to 1989 koch was the public face and brash voice of america's largest city. >> i talk like a new yorker, i walk like a new yorker, and i think like a new yorker. and i eat like a new yorker. (laughter). >> reporter: koch inherited a city in crisis, but he turned its finances around and lifted its spirits. >> what a great city. >> reporter: koch never minced words. he called his critics whackos but after 12 years many new yorkers tired of his abrasive style and he lost his bid for a fourth term. ed koch was 88. he always liked to have the last word so we'll give it to him.

>> i want to be remembered as being a proud jew who loved the people of the city of new york and did his best to make their lives better. >> pelley: the n.f.l. commissioner has issued an order to make the game safer. and we'll talk to the mayor of new orleans about what's being called the biggest experiment in public schooling in america when the "cbs evening news" continues. look what mommy is having. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings

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androgel 1.62%. >> pelley: it was august, 2005, when new orleans nearly drowned. hurricane katrina broke through levees in 50 places, flooding 80% of the city. more than 1,100 people died. but in catastrophe there was opportunity and one of the biggest was recreating a school system from scratch. we asked mayor mitch landrieu about that today. paint the picture for me. what was the new orleans school system the day after katrina? >> it was gone. it never existed. i mean, every building was underwater. everybody that worked for the system didn't exist anymore in terms of the jobs that were there or the schools and we had to piece it back together. >> reporter: they pieced it back not as the traditional school system it was but as a charter school system with teachers and principals hired, fired, and promoted based on

merit and parents given the freedom to choose the schools they like. >> one of the things we had the ability to do was to actually physically rebuild every school with fema reimbursements and with other money and we didn't put the school back like it was. we built a 21st century state-of-the-art knowledge-based school. >> pelley: you've been doing this a little over five years. what have you accomplished? >> what's happening now is the achievement level of the kids in the inner city is now beginning to match the kids on the statewide level in a very, very short period of time. finally, if you go into any charter school in new orleans right now and ask a kid when is he going to graduate, what he tells you is when he's going to graduate from college. so they have their eyes focused on "i've got a future ahead of me, i intend to finish school. i intend to drop out." >> i don't know where you got the .05. >> pelley: simone smith has applied to 13 universities. she's a senior who chose to go to a high performing science school call sci academy. >> i want to go to princeton

very much. >> pelley: what are the dreams? >> i want to be an actress, an attache, hopefully one day secretary of defense. yeah, i've got big dreams. >> pelley: that's a lot of dreams. (laughs) >> yeah. >> pelley: before katrina, the graduation rate was 50%, now it's more than 75% and in some places test scores are up 33%. what did it mean to you to be able to pick the high school that you went to? >> it meant everything. i don't think i would be here if i wasn't able to pick the high school that i wanted to go to because i don't feel like you can be truly educated without having a choice. i think having a choice is kind of education. >> pelley: mayor landrieu also gave great credit to the teach for america program that sent 375 teachers from all over the country to new orleans. harvard said today that 60 of its students were forced to leave for cheating on a final exam. dozens of others were put on

probation. it's been reported that basketball and football players were among the students disciplined. the n.f.l. wants to change the culture of the game to prevent injuries and we'll talk to james brown of cbs sports next. i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th,

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[ tylenol bottle ] me too! and nasal congestion. [ tissue box ] he said nasal congestion. yeah...i heard him. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. >> pelley: today the commissioner of the n.f.l. roger goodell made news telling reporters that some teams just don't understand that the league is not going to tolerate unnecessary violence, which made

us want to check in with james brown who will be hosting cbs sports coverage of the super bowl right here in new orleans on sunday. j.b., goodell said he wanted to take the head out of the tackle. how does he do that? >> the officials will be stringent with the calls on the field and whatever they may miss there's a postgame review that takes place on a monday and if anyone sees that they'll be fined and/or suspended as far as that's concerned. most players try to use their helmet to go at the crown, the solar plexus, or the head. that they want eliminated. tackle with the shoulders and arms and body. >> pelley: so even if officials don't call a foul in the moment, goodell will look at the tape on monday and issue fines? >> his enforcement staff does that routinely and believe me those penalties and those fines are definitely very serious deterrents. >> pelley: he says he's going to be relentless in this. do you take him at his board? >> his tenure has been that which has been -- he has been resolutely focused on changing the culture of the game. the players will have to adjust accordingly. >> pelley: j.b., thanks very

much, looking forward to sunday. >> my pleasure. >> pelley: this sunday we'll be interviewing president obama live from the white house during the super bowl pregame show. that's sunday afternoon at 4:30 eastern time here on cbs. in a moment, one man's undying love affair with the city of new orleans. steve hartman's "on the road" is orleans. steve hartman's "on the road" is next. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion

and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. to the best vacation sp(all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit. mississippi, alabama, louisiana or florida, they're gonna love it. shaul, your alabama hospitality is incredible. thanks, karen. love your mississippi outdoors. i vote for your florida beaches, dawn. bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. we're having such a great year on the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride, go fishing or just lay in the sun. we've got coastline to explore and wildlife to photograph. and there's world class dining with our world famous seafood. so for a great vacation this year, come to the gulf. its all fabulous but i give florida the edge. right after mississippi. you mean alabama. say louisiana or there's no dessert.

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>> plus behind the scenes at >> pelley: finally tonight, a lot of people have come here for the super bowl but a man named dominick has come to new orleans for an entirely different reason. steve hartman met him "on the road." >> reporter: nearly a million visitors are pouring into the big easy this week and next. most are coming the easy ways-- on wings and wheels. but we found one guy doing it the hard way. >> there he is! >> reporter: the very hard way. see that little road dot? that's dominick liboiron of medicine hat, alberta. he started clean shaven eight months ago, put in on a little trick until canada called the frenchman river. followed that down to the milk river to the missouri to the mississippi, nearly 3,300 miles total. , all in a caw canoe. they have planes in canada, you know. >> (laughs)

we have to get to them with dog sleds. >> oh, see i didn't know that. >> makes it tough. >> reporter: he actually does have a legitimate reason and it has nothing to do with football. in fact, when he started this trip he didn't even know the super bowl was going to be in new orleans. all he knew was that his favorite uncle, his uncle mitch, loved this town. >> it's really hot. it's nice. >> reporter: this is mitch driving into the city on his one and only trip to new orleans in 1992. he spent just a few days here-- although according to his nephew he never really came back. in his head he never came back? >> that's right. because when he returned to canada he had a bunch of cajun recipes with him, he started his own cajun catering company. >> reporter: mitch also started up a local radio show called mardi gras mambo. all in in saskatchewan, of all places. growing up, dominick heard so much about new orleans from his uncle he knew he had to get there someday. and when mitch died a couple years ago of a heart attack at

just 42 dominick realized you can't wait for someday. and so he began this epic journey. dominick did it partly as a way to let off some grief but mostly just to give his uncle one last great adventure. tucked in the boat safe and dry the whole way, a small vial of his uncle's ashes. dominick's family met him at the dock, then they all went with went to a quiet corner of new orleans, held hands and let go. >> all right, you're where you belong. >> reporter: this weekend, some men on a peeled are going to try to reach for greatness, but real greatness isn't always what you do in life. real greatness is often best measured by the greatness you inspire in others. and by that standard it's going to be hard to top uncle mitch. >> he was my hero. >> reporter: steve hartman, "on the road" in new orleans. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. we'll be back here tomorrow.

until then, i'm scott pelley for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. tonight heartache settled over the small town of myersville in frederick county, maryland, neighbors grieving over the loss of two young sisters who died when the family's home caught fire late last night. the neighbors tell us the mother managed to carry out a 7- month-old baby girl, then raced back inside to drop her 8-year- old girl from a balcony, all this while the father climbed onto the burning roof fighting to get back inside to two sisters, two sisters who did not make it out alive. >> i could see the blaze from my house. it